Twenty-one members of the Class of 2012 whose cumulative grade point averages ranked among the class' twenty highest were inducted into Dartmouth's chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society in a Tuesday ceremony in the Wren Room. Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and largest academic honor society in the country, recognizes college students for scholastic achievement. The seniors inducted were Mark Begor Jr. '12, Blakeley Brown '12, Jonathan Erdman '12, Elizabeth Faiella '12, Hannah Iaccarino '12, Glynnis Kearney '12, Michael Konieczny '12, Patrick Martin '12, Jessica Merry '12, Yang Neo '12, Dana Or '12, Adam Rice '12, David Rogg '12, Rachel Siegel '12, Yu Xi Su '12, Jie Sun '12, Jason Tong '12, Gordon Vermeer '12, Anna Wearn '12, Kelsey Woerner '12 and Jie Zhong '12. Psychological and brain sciences professor Jay Hull, president of Dartmouth's Phi Beta Kappa chapter, described the inductees as "the best of the best" during the ceremony. Hull began the ceremony with a ritual call to order and cautioned the family and friends gathered that the proceedings would be formal and include archaic language since Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1776. The chapter's vice president, history professor Colin Calloway, explained Phi Beta Kappa's motto of "Fraternity, Morality and Literature," which refers to academic collaboration, a strong moral standard and the importance of knowledge, he said. Each member of the Class of 2012 then stepped forward to sign the constitution and receive a certificate and membership handbook. English professor Jonathan Crewe, engineering professor Daniel Lynch and art history professor Adrian Randolph also received honorary Phi Beta Kappa membership, while Eric Meyers '62, a Jewish studies professor at Duke University, was given alumni membership. All students were invited back to the spring meeting, during which the remaining top 10 percent of the graduating class will also receive membership into Phi Beta Kappa. Kearney and Rogg are members of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.
The number of first-time medical school applicants reached an all-time high in 2011, according to a press release from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The number of first-time applicants increased by 2.6 percent from last year to 32,654 students, while total enrollment in medical schools increased by over 3 percent. Gains in application and enrollment also occurred across most major racial and ethnic groups, the release said. Due to a looming physician shortage in the United States, the AAMC called for a 30 percent increase in medical school enrollment in 2002. The increase in enrollment which totaled a 16.6 percent growth last year necessitates additional residency training positions at teaching hospitals across the country, the release said. "We are very concerned that proposals to decrease federal support of graduate medical education will exacerbate the physician shortage," Darrell Kirch, AAMC president and CEO, said in the release.
